Orca (film) - Production

Production

Producer Luciano Vincenzoni was first assigned to give the film a head start after being called by Dino de Laurentiis in the middle of the night in 1975. Upon admitting that he had watched Jaws, Vincenzoni was instructed by de Laurentiis to "find a fish tougher and more terrible than the great white". Having had little interest in sea life beforehand, Vincenzoni was directed to killer whales by his brother Adriano, who had a personal interest in zoology. Filming took place largely in Newfoundland, the island portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada during the fishing season. Most filming took place in the town of Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove, about 15 kilometres south of the capital city, St. John's.

The main orca used for filming was a trained animal from the San Francisco aquarium, though artificial whales of rubber were used also. These models were so lifelike that several animal rights activists blocked the trucks transporting them, confusing them for real orcas. The shark used early in the film was captured by noted shark hunter Ron Taylor. The scenery meant to represent a remote polar region of Labrador was fabricated in Malta by designer Mario Garbuglia. Richard Harris insisted on performing his own stunts in the polar sequences, and nearly died several times doing so.